To kick off National Consumer Protection Week, Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum today released the Oregon Department of Justice’s (DOJ) list of 2021’s top ten consumer complaints. For the second year in a row, auto sales and repairs, telecommunications and imposter scams took the top three spots.
A big part of Oregon DOJ’s consumer protection is aimed at reducing the burden on student loan borrowers. Since 2015, Oregon DOJ has secured $31.8 million in student loan cancellation through settlement with Navient, CEC, Aequitas, EDMC and The College Network. Next MONDAY, March 14th at noon PST, Attorney General Rosenblum, the U.S. Department of Education, and the Student Borrower Protection Center (SBPC) will host a live one-hour interactive webinar covering the most important student loan repayment issues. It is estimated Oregon borrowers in 2022 have more than $20.5 billion dollars in outstanding education-related debt. An estimated 85,000 Oregonians are currently behind on their student loans. Anyone who is interested can register for the free virtual event here.
“The past two years have been challenging for all of us–and National Consumer Protection Week is a reminder that our work protecting Oregonians in the marketplace continues,” said Attorney General Rosenblum. “This year alone, we’ve supported students who are amassing student debt at record rates, and we’ve secured several historic opioid crisis-related settlements —amounting to approximately $450 million for Oregon. All through COVID, we’ve continued to monitor scams and frauds and we’ve answered and handled thousands of consumer complaints. All Oregonians should take advantage of our statewide service. Please reach out to the Attorney General’s Consumer Hotline at 1-877-877-9392 .You just never know when we can help you or refer you to someone who can! Please be safe and well.”
2021 Quick Stats:
$329 million settlement with the three largest national distributors of opioid drugs and the drug manufacturer Johnson & Johnson
$97 million settlement to Oregon with Purdue Pharma and the Sackler Family
$1.4 million in restitution to Oregon student loan borrowers in the Navient settlement
$628,000 returned to Oregon consumers who filed complaints with the DOJ Consumer Protection Section
26,862 phone calls to the DOJ Consumer Protection Hotline
6,683 written consumer complaints
2021 Top Ten Consumer Complaint List:
Auto Sales & Repairs (712 complaints)
Telecommunications (708 complaints)
Imposter Scams/Fraudulent Entity (591 complaints)
Credit Lending (499 complaints)
Private Party Seller (476 complaints)
Health and Medical (343 complaints)
Travel (222 complaints)
Manufacturing (194 complaints)
Construction Contractors (173 complaints)
Real Estate (163 complaints)
If you would like to download DOJ’s free materials on scam and fraud prevention visit: https://www.doj.state.or.us/consumer-protection/sales-scams-fraud/more-scams-fraud-resources/
To sign up for DOJ’s free Scam Alert Network visit: https://www.doj.state.or.us/consumer-protection/scam-alert-network/
If you have information about, or think you may have fallen victim to a fraud or scam, contact the Oregon Department of Justice online at www.oregonconsumer.gov or call our Consumer Complaint Hotline at 1-877-877-9392.